Toyota joins Linux Foundation as gold member

Pretty soon, Toyota’s in-car entertainment and communication systems might use the same base operating system kernel as your Android smart phone or the operating system of the server that runs this website.

Toyota Motor Corp has joined the Linux Foundation as a gold member – the first automaker to formally participate in the non-profit organization. A gold member is required to pay an annual fee of US$100,000. This announcement comes soon after a consumer electronics manufacturer joined the foundation as a gold member for the first time – Panasonic Corp.

“Linux gives us the flexibility and technology maturity we require to evolve our In-Vehicle-Infotainment and communications systems to address the expectations of our customers. The Linux Foundation provides us with a neutral forum in which we can collaborate with the world’s leading technology companies on open innovation that accelerates that evolution,” said Kenichi Murata, Project General Manager, Electronics Development Div. 1, Toyota Motor Corp.

Other than Linux being used in Toyota’s in-car computers soon, such is the flexibility of the operating system that Linux can even be used in Toyota’s diagnostic tools at the service center.

After dabbling for years in the IT industry, Paul Tan initially began this site as a general blog covering various topics of personal interest. With an increasing number of readers paying rapt attention to the motoring stories, one thing led to another and the rest, as they say, is history. An avid electronic gadget aficionado as well as big-time coffee lover, he's also the executive producer of the Driven motoring TV programme.

I’m guess many ppl here, havent heard or used about Linux and uncustomary of using free Linux Operating system and open source applications. I have been using Linux for 10 years after I have ditch MS Windows XP for reasons of prevention of all thousands of computer virus for Windows and blue screen of death.

Furthermore you cannot use any Operating system that can be easily infected by computer virus such as an example:- a car running on Windows and someone in the car just insert an infected USB thumb drive on Audio system which virus just propagate to the central system running Wndows. Or drivers have to daily day, check for new anti-virus download..you get paranoia diseases

In fact many consumer electronic products are using Linux as their embedded platform so I’m not surprise by initiative of Toyota and Panasonic as they taken longer period of time to accept. it and funds they provided will help enhance development of Linux.

At a recent computer expo (COMDEX), Bill Gates reportedly compared the computer industry with the auto industry and stated, “If GM had kept up with the technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25.00 cars that got 1,000 miles to the gallon.”

In response to Bill’s comments, General Motors issued a press release stating, “If GM had developed technology like Microsoft, we would all be driving cars with the following characteristics:

1. For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash twice a day.

2. Every time they painted new lines on the road, you would have to buy a new car.

3. Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason. You would have to pull over to the side of the road, close all of the windows, shut off the car, restart it, and reopen the windows before you could continue. For some reason you would simply accept this.

4. Occasionally, executing a maneuver such as a left turn would cause your car to shut down and refuse to restart, in which case you would have to reinstall the engine.

5. Only one person at a time could use the car unless you bought “CarNT,” but then you would have to buy more seats.

6. Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, was reliable, five times as fast and twice as easy to drive — but it would only run on five percent of the roads.

7. The oil, water temperature and alternator warning lights would all be replaced by a single “general protect ion fault” warning light.

8. The airbag system would ask, “Are you sure?” before deploying.

9. Occasionally, for no reason whatsoever, your car would lock you out and refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the door handle, turned the key and grabbed hold of the antenna.

10. GM would require all car buyers to also purchase a deluxe set of Rand McNally Road maps (now a GM subsidiary), even though they neither need nor want them. Attempting to delete this option would immediately cause the car’s performance to diminish by 50 percent or more. Moreover, GM would become a target for investigation by the Justice Department.

11. Every time GM introduced a new car, car buyers would have to learn to drive all over again because none of the controls would operate in the same manner as the old car.

bmw, general motor has been using meego for their cars. os war between linux and windows was a thing in the past. it is now a war between which variant of linux, and the force behind it is Intel, they want to intel inside every gadget and devices human being uses.

What if the future says there is no Head Unit in the car. If cars had docking stations for either Apple or Android product, and amplifiers, it would make everything easy.

I am a big Pioneer fan but I can’t escape from thinking that all this will boil down to integrating your favourite Smartphone to the car. I hate to see Pioneer/Alpines go the way of the Dinosaur but the fact is, its just a matter of time when these converge.

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